I am looking for technical advice from any expert audio guys out there. As a cheap way to create a boom mic setup, is it possible to get a two pin mini to XLR adaptor to then use the supplied XL2 mic on a boom pole and use the XLR jacks on the camera? If so this would be a very quick and cheap way to utilise the supplied mic with boom and hence get the mic away from the noises the camera emits.

I don't know enough about the technical side of audio, so don't know if there is a reason why this cannot be done, perhaps it's as simple as, no adapter being available in the market.

I am looking for technical advice from any expert audio guys out there. As a cheap way to create a boom mic setup, is it possible to get a two pin mini to XLR adaptor to then use the supplied XL2 mic on a boom pole and use the XLR jacks on the camera? If so this would be a very quick and cheap way to utilise the supplied mic with boom and hence get the mic away from the noises the camera emits.

I don't know enough about the technical side of audio, so don't know if there is a reason why this cannot be done, perhaps it's as simple as, no adapter being available in the market.

Hope someone can answer this question.

Thanks

Ron K

You could mount the mic separately and use a pair of extension cables, one for each channel, or make up your own 3 or 4 conductor extension but it would probably be better to connect to the front 1/8" mic jacks rather than the XLR's. I dont know for sure if the XL2 is this way but many cameras bias their supplied standard mics with about 5 volts supplied through the mic connector. This is not the same thing as the 48v phantom power available on the XLR connectors. Another problem is that the mic is stereo, unbalanced. While you can adapt a pair of 1/8" minis to the XLRs at the camera end, the whole thing will be unbalanced and you won't have any of the advantages of the balanced XLR connection. Whether you send it to the front 1/8" mic connectors or the rear XLR connectors, a long unbalanced extension is going to be very susceptible to electrical noise pickup.

That's part of the beauty of a balanced circuit. Mic power can be passed in common mode while the signal goes differential. Apply the required voltage between the center tap of a transformer and the "ground" wire at the camera end and take this voltage off at the mic end between the center tap of the transformer at that end and the ground wire. Be sure to connect the center tap to ground at AC (i.e. through a capacitor) for noise rejection. This is how the phantom power is applied to microphones that use it. In this case the phantom power voltage is, apparently, not correct so we would have to apply the proper one - probably a 9 volt transistor battery would do. Note: No one should try this without consulting someone who understands this kind of circuitry and until the correct applied voltage has been determined by measurement.

I am looking for technical advice from any expert audio guys out there. As a cheap way to create a boom mic setup, is it possible to get a two pin mini to XLR adaptor to then use the supplied XL2 mic on a boom pole and use the XLR jacks on the camera? If so this would be a very quick and cheap way to utilise the supplied mic with boom and hence get the mic away from the noises the camera emits.

I don't know enough about the technical side of audio, so don't know if there is a reason why this cannot be done, perhaps it's as simple as, no adapter being available in the market.

Hope someone can answer this question.

Thanks

Ron K

Hello Ron,

The XL2 mic is a. not very good, and b. stereo. Here's what you do. Buy a Rode VideoMic with 3m extension. Plug it into the mini TRS. it feeds both inputs very nicely.

The VideoMic also has furry covers for wind and has a thread in its baseplate that allows it to be attached to a standard mic boom.

I agree that mics on both XL1s and XL2 are terrible. I spent a lot of time trying to improve matters - even with Light Waves systems isolater and MMXL1 Mini Mount - but the end results were never satisifying. Most of my early video tapes needed to be dubbed over due to the XL mic rarely providing clean enough sound. The best way that I found was to use together with one or two other longer shotgun mics and to turn down the volume on the Canon mic, but in the end I finally stopped using the Canon mic completely.
For on-camera mic I mainly use an AT mic clamped inside the Mini Mount + Light Waves system isolater. For off-camera mics I prefer one or two AT mics connected to long XLR leads, together with a Sony wireless mic provide plenty of options for ambient or voice control.